Clupeidae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Clupeidae Fossil range: Early Eocene–Recent [1] |
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 Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus
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Dussumieriinae |
Clupeidae is the family of the herrings, shads, sardines, hilsa and menhadens. It includes many of the most important food fishes in the world.
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[edit] Description and biology
Clupeids are mostly marine, although a few species are found in freshwater. No species has scales on the head, and some are entirely scaleless. The lateral line is short or absent, and the teeth are unusually small where they are present at all. Clupeids typically feeds on plankton, and range from 2 centimetres (0.79 in) to 75 centimetres (30 in) in length.[1]
Clupeids spawn huge numbers of eggs (up to 200,000 in some species) near the surface of the water. After hatching, the larvae live among the plankton until they develop a swim bladder and transform into adults. The adults typically live in large shoals.[2]
[edit] Commercial species
Important commercial species include:
- Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus
- Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus
- Baltic herring, Clupea harengus membras
- Pacific herring, Clupea pallasii
- European pilchard, Sardina pilchardus
[edit] Genera
- Subfamily Dussumieriinae (round herrings)
- Subfamily Clupeinae
- Subfamily Alosinae (shads, menhadens)
- Subfamily Pellonulinae (freshwater herrings}
- Subfamily Dorosomatinae (gizzard shads)
- Incertae sedis (position uncertain)
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Clupeidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. December 2008 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2008.
- ^ Nelson, Gareth (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 91-92. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
- "Clupeidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Miko's Phylogeny Archive
